Improvement in fire-escapes



QShee'tS--SheeLI WILLIAM DE PEW.

Improvement in Fire-Escapes. NO. 114,421. Patented May 2y871.

drifted tratta WILLIAM DE FEW, F PARIS,

CANADA.

Letters 4Patent No. 114,421, dated May 2, 1871.

IMPROV-EM ENT IN FlRE-ESCA PES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making put ofthesame.

To all 'whom it may conce/rn Be it known that I, WILLIAM DE Paw, ofParis, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have inventedan Improved VFire-Escape; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and eX- act description of thev same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawingforming part of this specification, inwhich-'- Figure 1 is a side elevation, showing the apparatus extendedand ready for use;

Figure 2 is a similar elevation, showing the same apparatus folded upand ready for transportation; and

Figure 3 isa bottom vie'w of the front end of the car with the shaftsattached.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawing denotecorresponding parts.

This invention relates to that class of fire-escapes which employ av Jacobs ladder7 orlazy tongs as a means for reaching the walls of thebuilding; and

It 'consists-' First, in a' new method of constructing and supportingsaid ladder, whereby it can be more convenifently handled and morereadily adjusted than heretoore.

Secondly, in the employment of a shield at the front end of the car forthe purpose of protecting the workmen from the re.

Thirdly, in a new construction of the draft-poles or shafts, wherebythey are adapted ,to answer as a ladder, and also will allow a largernumber of persons to assist in drawing the car than heretofore.

In the drawing- A is the c ar, running on wheels a a, and provided witha sheet-metal shield, B, at its front end, to protect the workmen fromthe heatpof the fire.

Said shield is constructed with triangularsideflanges b b, which serveto support it and at the same time to furnish additional protection fromthe heat that might reach the car laterally.

It may be firmly attached to the end of the car by ,rivets or screws, asshown, or it may be pivoted lso as to be turned back out of the way whennot in use.

C C are the shafts of lthe car, connected together by rounds c c, someof which project through the shafts as shown at oc, forming handles bywhich the vehicle can be dragged along.

The whole is capable of assuming a horizontal position, or turning backon its pivot c2 to the position shown in tig. 2, to form a ladder,whereby the rescued women and childrencan descend from the basket D, inwhich they'have escaped from the building.

Said box or basket swings freely upon the upper connecting-rod of aJacobs ladder, E, and by means thereof can be raised, lowered, and moveddirectly ,and

ably braced to enable them to'sustain the weight of the ladder in itsdiierent positions.

lhe lower ends of the arms e e' are made slightly stouter than the upperends, and are connectedby rounds fr fr', the lower one of which projectsthrough the arms and' forms a handle, and also a stop, which, strikingagainst the standards, prevents the ladder from turning in eitherdirection beyond the position shown in fig. 2.

An alarm-bell, H, may be attached to any part of the machine, preferablyto the center of the cross-bar f.

A hook may, if desired, be secured to the middle of the rounds lr lr',and a chain to the car beneath, by which said rounds can be instantlyfastened at any height, and the ladder thus kept at any desiredelevation as long as may be necessary. y

The operation of my improved fire-escape above de# scribed is asfollows:

A number of the workmen take hold of the rounds lr r and the arms orlevers e c', each vside of the standards G G, and, by depressing saidlevers, instantly raise the basket to any desired elevation, at the sametime directing its movements with perfect accuracy and precision bymerely accelerating .or retarding the movement of the levers on eitherside of the standards. While doing this they are protected from the heatby the shield B, as above described.

Having received the persons from the burning building into the basket D,they instantly swing the latter away from the wall to the position shownin dotted lines in iig. i, and rapidly lower it to the position shown iniig. 2.

They then throw the shafts up and back till their upper ends restagainst the edge 0f the basket, when the occupants of the same canreadily and safely descend to the ground, and the basket can beinstantly thrown up to the window again to receive other persons who maybe in danger.

The operations of this apparatus are not retarded nor hampered by theuse of rollers and cords or pul-4 leys, for raising and lowering, nor isthemachine encumbered with guide-ropes for controlling the movements ofthe basket, but the whole is electually and easily done by suspendingthe ladder at the top of the standards and employing the lever-arms e e'to operate it, as described.

The machinelis thus relieved of superduous weight,

JAMES DOUGHERTY.

lmproyvement in Cupola-Furnaces.

Patented May 2,1871.

wlw-Nass Es

